jashn e azadi . partner

for all its rather incendiary content jash e azadi seemed rather conventional in the way it was made. i wonder whether there is any way in which we can escape the repertoire of images that portray the beauty or the violence within the area under the siege of violence. the barbed wire through which we see ordinary citizens pass, the relentless check posts or the shots of army trucks that move in cordons through pristine surroundings. the voice over and the music too seemed like something i was immediately familiar with from so many films seen earlier. i guess it was a welcome relief from the chest thumping self centerdness of a 'final solution' or an arch over aestheticed complexity under which the content of the film would have been lost. and the content was powerful and important to be seen for us all. the unbelievable humiliation and atrocities that kashmiri muslims have to undergo as a daily aspect of their lives and the smug self satisfaction of the indian state as it clamps down on a people who vociferously reject them.

miles away from jashn e azadi was ‘partner’ in the evening. david dhawans attempts at crazy comedy seem forced now. while the whacky timing and humour of the 90s films kept you constantly on the edge, his later films have tended towards the soft focus prettiness and smoothness than blunts all the edges of the jokes. still when it works it works. govinda is fantastic and salman sweet enough. the girls look beautiful and the songs are great to dance to.